THE FOLIO SOCIETY

‘It is Buchan’s ability to transport his readers to this magic universe which has produced so many devotees to his writing’
GILES FODEN

Written between 1894 and 1934, John Buchan’s short stories cover themes that fascinated him throughout his writing life. As a master storyteller, he could weave his abiding preoccupations into his imaginative tales: the triumphs and temptations of ambition, the loss of old customs, the survival of old beliefs and the penetration of the imagination and the supernatural into the supposedly rational world. At the same time, his remarkable experiences and interests as a traveller, war correspondent, politician and classical scholar provided excellent source materials. Many are set in the Scottish Border hills he loved, others reveal his affection for the veldt of South Africa. No matter what the setting, however, fans of Buchan’s thrillers will find his signature hair-raising action, while other tales are more mysterious, even uncanny in their tone. ‘A Journey of Little Profit’ where Duncan Stewart meets a hospitable, but knowing laird on the moor, has echoes of Celtic folklore, while ‘The Grove of Ashtaroth’ is haunted by a far older religion than Christianity.

Giles Foden, bestselling author of The Last King of Scotland , has selected these stories specifically to give a sense of Buchan’s range. As Foden points out in his introduction, Buchan was not only the father of the modern thriller, but a sensitive and nuanced writer with an eye for place and an ear for language which few have equalled.